Erin Lesser is a GRAMMY® Award-winning flutist who has been described as “superb,” “excellent,” and “elegant” (New York Times), “brilliant” (New York Concert Review), and “a multi-tasking virtuoso” (The New Yorker). She has performed at prestigious venues around the world, including Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Hall, the Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ (Amsterdam), and the Library of Congress. She performed the American premiere of Morton Feldman’s For Flute and Orchestra with the Janáček Philharmonic at Alice Tully Hall. As a recording artist, Erin can be heard on over 50 releases on labels including Nonesuch, Cantaloupe, Carrier, Hat[now] Art, New Focus, Aeon, New Amsterdam, New World, Albany, and Capstone.
Erin is a member of Alarm Will Sound, a contemporary chamber orchestra that has been called the “future of classical music” by The New York Times. The ensemble won a 2026 GRAMMY for Best Small Ensemble Performance for its recording of Donnacha Dennehy’s Land of Winter. That same album garnered “Best Recording of the Year” accolades from The New York Times, Boston Globe, Gramophone, and The Washington Post. She is also a member of Wet Ink, a group described as “thought-provoking and expansive and fearless in testing the limitations of what instruments or musical forms can be.” The group was named Best Ensemble of 2018 by The New York Times.
A graduate of the University of Ottawa (BM) and the Manhattan School of Music (MM, DMA), Erin also completed a two-year fellowship with Ensemble Connect (a program run by Carnegie Hall, the Weill Music Institute, and the Juilliard School). Erin is proud to serve on the faculty at Lawrence University as Professor of Flute. In 2019, she was awarded the Lawrence University Award for Excellence in Teaching. She is also co-founder of Music for All, a program that brings music into new and underserved venues throughout the Fox Valley community in Wisconsin.
Ms. Lesser is a Pearl Flutes Performing Artist.
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